MELBOURNE, March 13, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An Australian couple has been granted permission to collaborate with an IVF clinic to create a “designer” baby from which to harvest “spare parts,” manufactured through genetic screening and tissue matching, in the hopes of curing their sick child, who may be terminally ill. It is possible that a cure could come from a transfusion of umbilical cord blood from a perfectly matched sibling, who would be impossible to create by natural means.
The two applicants were first given interim approval by the Infertility Treatment Authority a year ago. But only this week did final approval come down from the hospital ethics committee.
“The process has been difficult because of the over-extended period of time that has elapsed in getting it approved,” said Monash IVF clinic chief executive Donna Howlett, who says Monash has asked three hospitals for permission to perform the testing and fertility treatment.